Man, 2020, what a year, right? Everyone was a bit up in the air, and so was I. I totally remember just scrolling online, probably procrastinating, and bumping into all these “Pisces 2020 career predictions.” Now, I ain’t really one for horoscopes giving me daily marching orders, but something about that title just got me thinking, you know? It wasn’t about believing every word; it was more like, “Okay, if this is supposedly my vibe, what part of it can I actually do something about?”
So, I started digging a little, just out of curiosity. The general gist for Pisces was always something about “new beginnings,” “unforeseen opportunities,” and “a time for inner reflection leading to major career shifts.” Sounded pretty vague, but also a bit hopeful amidst all the chaos setting in. My career at that point felt… solid, but stagnant. Comfortable, too comfortable maybe. I was doing my thing, clocking in and out, but the spark? Kinda dim.
I took those “predictions” not as gospel, but as a kick in the pants. Like, “Okay, if change is supposedly in the cards, what if I force it?” It wasn’t about waiting for something to land in my lap. It was about priming myself. I decided right then I wasn’t just gonna sit around and wait for some opportunity to magically appear. My process had to begin with getting off my butt and creating my own “opportunity.”
First thing I did? I dusted off my old resume. Not just a quick tweak, but a full-blown overhaul. I spent a whole weekend just re-writing everything, trying to really highlight what I was good at, not just what my job description said. I remember feeling a bit silly, like, “Why am I doing this? I’m not even actively looking.” But it felt good to lay it all out.
Next up, I started looking into skills. Those predictions always whispered about adaptability. So I thought, “What’s something completely different I could learn that might expand my horizons?” I ended up signing up for an online course on data visualization. Totally outside my comfort zone, but it had been bugging me for a while. Every evening after dinner, I’d force myself to put in an hour, sometimes two. It was tough, definitely, pulling my brain in a new direction. I kept a simple notebook, just jotting down new terms, coding snippets, and ideas that sparked while I was watching the lessons. It was my physical record of pushing through that learning curve.
Then came the networking, which honestly, I usually hate. But the “predictions” mentioned connections, so I figured, why not give it a shot? I started reaching out to old colleagues I hadn’t spoken to in years. Not asking for jobs, just checking in, seeing what they were up to. A casual chat here, a virtual coffee there. It was more about rekindling relationships than finding an immediate gain. I made a point to log who I talked to, what we discussed, and any follow-up ideas, just in a simple text file on my computer. This helped me keep track of conversations and made sure I didn’t just forget who was who.
By mid-2020, I was feeling a bit more energized, even with all the craziness outside. The data visualization skills, while basic, started making me look at my current job differently. I started seeing patterns in our old reports that I’d totally missed before. I actually pitched a small project to my boss, just something to visualize some internal metrics better. To my surprise, they went for it.
That little project, born out of my random self-improvement, ended up being a bigger deal than I thought. It opened up new conversations, new internal opportunities. By the end of the year, I actually found myself shifting roles within my company, taking on something more analytical and creative that I never would’ve even considered before. It wasn’t a new company, but it was a completely new direction, a fresh challenge. It felt like that vague “career shift” everyone was talking about, but it came about because I actively put in the work to make myself ready for something different. It wasn’t magic, just a lot of chipping away at new skills and talking to people. Looking back, those “predictions” were just the whisper that got me moving; the actual journey was all my own sweat and effort.
